Chatham County Superior Court Chief Judge Michael Karpf said Brooks, 29, "represents a danger" because of the recklessness because of his conduct that day.

Earlier Brian Jones, 24, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the home invasion of Earl Hamilton, 60, at his home, 1108 Milton St.

Both defendants were convicted by a jury February 25 of armed robbery and related charges in the case.

Because Jones was a repeat offender, a life prison term was mandatory and Karpf did not impose additional consecutive time to the sentence.

In the Brooks case, Karpf ordered him to prison for 20 years without the possibility of parole on an armed robbery sentence and added ten years for a burglary conviction.

Jurors also convicted Jones on a charge of theft by taking of a Cadillac SUV belonging to the elder Hamilton's girlfriend, Erica Grant, as Jones attempted to elude police at the Milton Street address.

But jurors acquitted both men on an aggravated-assault charge against Hamilton's 12-year-old son, Earl B. Hamilton, in the same incident. And the jury acquitted Brooks on a kidnapping charge by forcing the elder Hamilton to drive his Jaguar to Bull and Broughton streets early May 17.

Brooks fled the downtown site after a Savannah-Chatham police detective fired a gunshot into the car and hid in the Olde Pink House Restaurant on Reynolds Square where he was apprehended by Savannah-Chatham police SWAT team members and a K-9 dog after a several-hour standoff.